Rainer Kempe finally got the monkey off his back at the World Series of Poker. The German tournament grinder with tens of millions in career earnings finally took down a bracelet event in the early morning of Saturday, June 28, 2025. The Berlin native bested a field of 809 entries in the $10,000 super turbo bounty eight max event, earning $892,701 and the long awaited hardware after coming out on top in the fast-paced affair.
The 35-year-old’s first cash at the series came a decade earlier. In the intervening years he grew his WSOP in-the-money count to over 70, making six final tables along the way but never closing one out. Now, 10 years and one day after his first deep run at the series, Kempe has finally removed his name from the dreaded ‘best without a bracelet’ list.
Kempe now has more than $22.6 million in lifetime tournament earnings after adding this triumph to his record. His top score remains the $5,000,000 he secured as the champion of the 2016 Super High Roller Bowl.
In addition to the hardware and the money, Kempe also scored a bevy of rankings points with this win. The 2,280 Card Player Player of the Year points shot him inside the top 70 in the 2025 POY standings presented by Coin Poker, while 893 PokerGO Tour points placed him just outside the top 15 in that high-stakes-centric points race.
One Day, One Champion
While most events at the WSOP last three or more days, this super turbo was one of the few that wrapped up in a single day. Action got underway at noon on June 27, and by the time registration closed there were more than 800 entries recorded for the event. As a result, the prize pool swelled to $7,523,700, with the top 123 finishers making the money.
Kempe had plenty of tough competition down the stretch, including the likes of two-time bracelet winners John Riordan (42nd), Jennifer Harman (40th), and Steve Zolotow (38th). Other notables that ran deep were seven-time bracelet winner Brian Rast (37th), bracelet winner Samuel Mullur (25th), two-time bracelet winner Boris Kolev (22nd), actress Arden Cho (20th), two-time bracelet winner Justin Saliba (17th), three-time bracelet winner Davidi Kitai (15th), Michael Acevedo (13th), and two-time bracelet winner Robert Cowen (10th).
Martin Kabrhel, who has drawn a lot of attention once again this summer with his unique table presence, finished fifth. The three-time bracelet winner’s last stand saw him shove his short stack with J-7. Kempe called with K-6 and made sixes and fives to win the pot. Kabrhel earned $212,926 for his latest strong showing at the series.
Yuya Arito took out high-stakes livestreamed cash game regular Jasper Ma in fourth place ($295,133) to cut the field to three. Kempe then won a big all-in with A♣K♠ against the A♦Q♦ of Ryuta Nakai to send the Japanese player packing in third place ($415,755).
That gave Kempe 37,240,000 to the 11,300,000 of Arito going into heads-up play. Kempe was soon able to convert that lead into the title, getting all-in with middle pair of fives leading the bottom pair of fours held by Arito. Neither player improved after the flop and Arito was knocked out in second place, earning a career-best payday of $595,078 for his efforts.
Final Table Results
| Place | Player | Payout | POY Points | PGT Points |
| 1 | Rainer Kempe | $892,701 | 2,280 | 893 |
| 2 | Yuya Arito | $595,078 | 1,900 | 595 |
| 3 | Ryuta Nakai | $415,755 | 1,520 | 416 |
| 4 | Jasper Ma | $295,133 | 1,140 | 295 |
| 5 | Martin Kabrhel | $212,926 | 950 | 213 |
| 6 | Raoul Kanme | $156,166 | 760 | 156 |
| 7 | Colin Dentan | $116,468 | 570 | 116 |
| 8 | Chad Thyzel | $88,352 | 380 | 88 |
Photo credit: WSOP / Spenser Sembrat.
